Teeth-cleaning twig
Ancient oral hygiene tool made from a tree twig.
Last updated
A teeth-cleaning twig is an oral hygiene tool made from a twig from a tree, also known in Hindi as datwoon.[1] It can help to prevent tooth decay and gum disease.[2] After being chewed until one end becomes frayed, twigs or roots from certain plants can serve as a brush for teeth.[3]
Quick Facts
- Also known as
- Datwoon
- dantakastha
- miswak
- chew stick
- Earliest known use
- Babylonia in 3500 BCE and an Egyptian tomb from 3000 BCE
- Mentioned in
- Ayurvedas (4th century BCE)
- Tipitaka (5th century BCE)
- Talmud
- Gospel of Buddhism
- hadith
- Common plant sources
- Salvadora persica (toothbrush tree)
- neem
- banyan
- mango
- mangosteen
- Typical length
- Twelve finger-widths; shortest not less than eight finger-widths
Facts from the source article.
How it changed
The practice of using herbal sticks for oral hygiene has existed since ancient times in many parts of the world.[4] The earliest chew sticks have been dated to Babylonia in 3500 BCE and an Egyptian tomb from 3000 BCE.[3] Chinese records from 1600 BCE mention chew sticks, and they appear in the Ayurvedas around the 4th century BCE.[3] The Buddhist Canon from around the 5th century BCE in India also mentions them.[3]
Medical books of ancient India, Susruta Samhita and Charaka Samhita, stressed oral hygiene using herbal sticks.[5] Teeth-cleaning twigs can be obtained from a variety of tree species, though some are better suited due to chemical composition.[6] The Chinese monk Yijing (635–713 CE) documented the Indian custom of using tooth wood for brushing in his writings about monastic rules.[7] Across Africa, numerous plant species are used to make chewing sticks, with Salvadora persica—called the "toothbrush tree"—being a common source.[8]
What the maker and period sources say
The dantakāshṭha is described in a Buddhist record as a "chewing-willow-twig," and the wood used in India is Acacia catechu.[9] The same account describes the bark of a tree as yellowish-white and the leaves and twigs as dark green.[9] A review notes that in Middle Eastern, Asian, and African cultures, chewing sticks are prepared from the roots and twigs of Salvadora persica.[5] That review also details HPTLC studies on air-dried powdered stem and twig of S. persica extracted with methanol.[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "Teeth-cleaning twig" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Winer, "Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago", McGill-Queen's, 2009, p. 285 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Teeth-cleaning twig" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Miswak sellers are all smiles as sales increase", Arab News, 2018-05-13 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Teeth-cleaning twig" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Panati, "Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things", HarperCollins, 2013, p. 208–209; Yu, "Dental Biotribology", Springer, 2013, p. 18–19; Yu, "Dental Biotribology", Springer, 2013, p. 18–19; Panati, "Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things", HarperCollins, 2013, p. 208–209; Yu, "Dental Biotribology", Springer, 2013, p. 18–19; Dantakaṭṭha sutta (AN 5.208) Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka Buddhavasse 2500; Singh, "Tooth brushing, oil pulling and tissue regeneration: A review of holistic approaches to oral health", Journal of Ayurveda and Integra en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Teeth-cleaning twig" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alciphron, Epistles, Book 3.39; "A Review on the Pharmagnostic Evaluation of Meswak, Salvadora Persica | Bioscience Biotechnology Research Communications" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "A Review on the Pharmagnostic Evaluation of Meswak, Salvadora Persica | Bioscience Biotechnology Research Communications". facts only, no text reused. bbrc.in
- Wikipedia, "Teeth-cleaning twig" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Neem tree as teeth cleaning twig", Batplants.co.uk; "Natural twigs used as teeth cleaning twigs", Naturaltoothbrush.com; "Neem tree as teeth cleaning twig 2", Neem-products.com; "Natural toothbrush twigs", Naturallygreen.co.uk, 2007-09-15; "Natural toothbrush overview", Nzherald.co.nz, 2007-06-19; "Xuanzang (玄奘) <603 - 664>: Buddhist records of the Western world (大唐西域記), book VIII/IX.", www.payer.de (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Teeth-cleaning twig" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Li, R., 2000. Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia: A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas (p. 198). Numata Center for Buddhist Transl (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Teeth-cleaning twig" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Roland Portères Journal d'agriculture traditionnelle et de botanique appliquée Année 1974 21-4-6 pp. 111-150, https://www.persee.fr/doc/jatba_0021-7662_1974_num (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Xuanzang (玄奘) <603 - 664>: Buddhist records of the Western world (大唐西域記), book VIII/IX.", www.payer.de. facts only, no text reused. payer.de
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Teeth-cleaning twig (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Teeth-cleaning twig (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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